Page 44 of Choosing a Forever
“I’m doing well, Mr. Thorpe. How are you?”
“No need to be so formal, son, Lyle is perfectly fine.”
“Sorry, force of habit.” I feel my cheeks redden.
“No need to be nervous, Talmage. We’re not going to bite your head off, I promise.” Hermom, Angie, turns to give me a smile. Mack got her wide smile and red hair from her mom, and it fills me with a little bit of comfort. “Mackenzie told us you two were planning on singing together for your term performance, is that still the plan?”
“Yes, we have a practice scheduled with her voice teacher in two weeks, I think.”
“That’ll be so fun. You two are going to be great together, I just know it. Mackenzie’s been happier than ever since you two became such good friends.” Angie gives me a wink.
They have to know.
And they seem okay with it.
It makes me feel good, knowing Mack isn’t going to be in trouble.
I only wish my parents were as accepting.
I hope Mack’s okay with me showing up an hour early. In my hurry to get out of my parents’, I didn’t think about texting her, and the ten minute drive to her house passed in a blur.
Now, I’m sitting in the driveway of the little blue house, contemplating whether I should take Siren home or not.
Before I make a decision, the front door swings open, and two girls who look similar to Mack but with different colored hair stand there. One of them grabs the other by the arm and tries to pull her inside, but she’s too fast and yanks her arm from her then sprints towards me.
I’m not even fully out of my car before the one with dirty blonde hair starts hurling questions my way at a million miles an hour.
“Are you Talmage? You’re Lacey and Tim’s brother, right? Your brother is socute.Oh, shit, don’t tell him that.Awkward.What do you do? How are you so fit? Are you sure you want to marry Mack?Whydo you want to marry Mack? Is this like some Make-A-Wish shit because of the whole dead parents thing? Do you make thi—”
“Kinsley! Will you shut up?” her twin hisses. She turns to me, cheeks aflame and shakes her head. Her hair is more of a strawberry blonde than her sister’s. “I’m sorry about her.”
I open my mouth to speak when Siren barks once from inside my car, pressing her nose to the window like she’s trying to smell the twins through the glass.
Kinsley—the one with all the questions—squeals.
“Oh myGod!Is this your dog? Hi, puppy, what a cutie-wootie!” She wiggles her fingers at Siren through the glass.
Harper cringes at Kinsley’s puppy voice.
I chuckle, opening the door and letting Siren out. She immediately runs around the girls, sniffing their legs. She’s trained not to jump up on people, but I can tell she likes them already by how rapidly her tail is wagging. She lets out a littlewoofwhen she sniffs Harper before plopping down at her feet while Harper gently pets Siren’s silky fur.
“This is Siren. Do you think your sister will mind if I let her wander around the backyard?”
Kinsley gasps, kneeling on the cold driveway and scratching Siren’s ears. “No fur-niece of mine will be cast to the backyard like a commoner. She can come hang out in our room while you and Mack talk or… whatever you do.” Her nose crinkles like she smells something bad. “You guys aren’t going to like, kiss and be gross all the time, are you?”
My stomach flutters at the thought of kissing Mack again. Ihopewe kiss all the time. That would be a dream come true.
“I—”
“Kinsley, I swear to God. I’ll make you eat school lunch for a week if you’re bothering Talmage.” The voice of my dream girl floats through the chilly air, sending a shiver down my spine. Siren barks and runs up to Mack, giving her a thorough sniff-spection. Mack squats and rubs behind Siren’s ears, a small smile on her face.
Kinsley rolls her eyes but heads back towards the front door. Harper and I follow.
“I wasn’t bothering our future brother-in-law. I was just making sure his intentions are pure. Harp and I are going to take Siren to our room while you two talk. C’mon, girl.”
Siren looks at me and tilts her head like she’s waiting for my permission.
“Go on, go get some attention from your new aunts,” I say as I reach the threshold of the door. As soon as Siren and the girls are out of sight, I let my gaze meet Mack’s.
